Is Mauritius Island – Still a Safe Place to Visit?

The murder of the young Irish bride on their honeymoon at Legends has just unveiled the real facet of the high class hotel in Mauritius. The phenomenon is growing in recent years and involves employees who want to conflict their own clients. By the beginning of the year 2011 the prospect of Mauritian Hotel seems not to be very bright. The murder of the Irish Michaela Harte, moreover a beloved daughter of a well known football coach, during full honey moon at Legends Hotel has just unveiled some harmful practices that take place in hotels. Sooner or later the image of Mauritius Paradise Island famous to be among the best destinations for honey moon has been dented. Stealing the fabulous properties of tourists is a relatively common practice among some hotel employees.

When suspicions can be proved, then some hotel enterprises prefer to evade the tragedy so that their reputation is not tarnished. This time, a banal theft has turned into a sordid murder. All information channels in the world have the news being broadcasted in the loop. At the moment the Irish lady was going to fetch some crackers in her room number 1205, she surprisingly came nose to nose to the murderers. She was looking some crackers to break with her coffee, but never had she thought that she is going to die. Ignoring the habits of the bride, the room attendant and his supervisor had used the master key of the room to break into the room and search among the personal effects of the bride. When the Irish lady has caught the two employees within the midst of their full action, the supervisor strangled her. During her struggle the other man immobilized her by the feet.

Next to the luxury and magnificence, employees want to completely avail their opportunities from clients. They begin by simply dealing on small objects. Recently, the criminal police of Trou aux Biches came across a minor case that is considered to be least unusual. A hotel employee of Veranda Hotel went each day in the room of a client and stole from her a banknote. The client had in the end been able to trap him by marking a sign on each and single note. The petty thief can however turn into a criminal overnight; and that is the case for Legends Hotel. Everyone remembers the dreadful murder of the Indian billionaire Mir Mujeeb in January 31, 2005. Residing in a luxury bungalow at Cap Malhereux, he was the target of Prabakar Takar, the latter was a former employee of Paradise Cove converted into vigil on behalf of Gray Security Ltd after suspicion of theft against him. Instead of ensuring the welfare of the heir to an empire Prabakar had structured his gangs, the taxi driver Navin Koonjul, the gardener Rajiv Mungrah and Rajiah Dookee the head of the hotel, to try to rob the victim of his “millions “. When they had finally stolen his credit cards, they had brought him in a sugar cane field in Grand Bay where they tortured him. They knocked him, stoned him and in the end they drove a car over his body before burning him while he was still alive. The death of the man was much later, after a terrible long suffering. His father, Abdul Rashid Mir, narrated his story to a journalist of the media that his son had moved to the island in 1996, yet he always said that “Mauritius Was The Safest Place in the World “.

Since then, various incidents have been recorded more frequently among customers of five star hotels. In September 2007, Jean Suzanne, the boss of Infinity and advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister, has been deprived of a watch Jaiga Lecoultre (worth Rs 900,000) at Shanti Ananda. In this case, an investigation by the CID of Chemin Grenier would sort out the security guard known by Ramanah. A former gardener of the establishment known by Jerico was involved, after he made an “inventory” of client assets. So far, the hotel boasted of being in the top-level security. They looked down the “informal sector” where many clients preferred to rent private homes. Many disgusting incidents have nearly slipping in some other villas and bungalows; among others there was a case of an attack on a Korean couple at Belle Mare in August 2008. The husband was beaten with a cudgel while his wife with a wound, they preferred to leave the country immediately instead of reporting the complaint.

Since Mauritius is unwilling to disclose the numbers of attacks and robberies against tourists, yet in March 2008, Prime Minister revealed that within one year, beginning in March 2007, five assaults, one rape and 805 cases of theft had been recorded against tourists. The thefts involved for the majority of bags left on the beach. Those in hotels are not sorted out because the clients often think of their losing property while arranging their bags. In other cases, police doubt the tourists making a false statement to receive their insurance premiums. Many hotel employees aware of these deficiencies and they are being tempted. Later at the end of last year, the CID of Trou aux Biches has cracked down a gang of twelve robbers all being the staff of Veranda Hotel. In the same region, close investigation among a handful of employees at the Meridian Hotel has seen a drop in the number of reported thefts between November and December last year.

At 15 o’clock this Friday, January 14, four days after the murder in the room 1025, the AHRIM prefers to keep silent, indicating that a release is in the process of drafting this “crisis” that is the case Mrs Harte.